Small business owner-managers' perceptions of entrepreneurship in the Emfuleni district

SP van der Merwe; G de Swardt

Potchefstroom Business School, North-West University

ABSTRACT

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The primary objective of this study was to analyse small business owner-managers' perceptions of entrepreneurship and their motives to start their businesses in the Emfuleni district in South Africa. A total of 307 useable questionnaires were gathered and utilised for the statistical analysis. There were three statements that small business owner-managers perceived to be most applicable to them, i.e. entrepreneurs work longer hours and harder than managers in large companies; money is the most important start-up ingredient; and entrepreneurs experience a great deal of stress and as a consequence pay a high price of their health. With regard to the entrepreneurial motives, an Oblimin oblique rotation was performed on the principal components of the exploratory factor analysis. Two factors with eigenvalues greater than one were extracted describing the theoretical dimensions of the entrepreneurial motive and the non-entrepreneurial motive. The owner-managers indicated that the entrepreneurial motives, to have more satisfaction in work, to be independent, and to use own creative skills, were the most important motives for them venturing into entrepreneurship. No practically significant relationship could be found between the extracted factor, the entrepreneurial motive, and the demographical variables in this study. Practical recommendations are offered to entrepreneurs, the government and business educators.